Purpose: To announce the reauthorization of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the
Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit under the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-311) and to
transmit a policy clarification regarding acceptance and processing of certification requests for new hires who work in one
state but received public assistance benefits in a different state.

Purpose: To inform High Growth Job Training Initiative (High Growth) grantees of the
November transition to the Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) On-Line Electronic Reporting System for the SF
269 Financial Status Report

The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program is an innovative system that combines
administrative data on employers and employees with core demographic data to produce new local statistics on
workers and their industries.

The flagship product – Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) – is possible because of a partnership with 35 states,
through their labor market information agencies. The QWI include measures of employment, turnover, job creation
and loss, and earnings by industry and by age and sex of worker. Available at the local level – for counties, places,
workforce investment areas, etc. – this data set makes it possible for workers and workforce boards to better
understand where the jobs are and what training is needed and for businesses and economic development agencies
to assess workforce availability and pay.

Advanced confidentiality protection techniques ensure that the confidentiality of the people and firms that provide
the data is protected. Contact: http://lehd.dsd.census.gov

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has announced a $150,000 grant to Automotive Retailing
Today (ART) as part of the Administration's High Growth Job Training Initiative.

Through the grant, ART and its partners will gather, validate and deliver information and data about career
opportunities in the automotive industry to career-related websites and to public workforce development
professionals. This information will describe viable and exciting career opportunities; connect job seekers to training
opportunities and job openings in the field; and dispel negative presumptions that the general public may have
about the industry. Contact: http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/JobTrainInitiative/

United We Ride Initiative

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has identified state agencies selected for United We Ride State
Coordination Grants, and provided instructions for applying for the grant funds.

Those states selected for funding were found to meet the objective of the United We Ride initiative which is to
implement the President's Executive Order on Human Service Transportation Coordination by breaking down
barriers among Federal programs to enhance coordination of human service transportation programs for individuals
with disabilities, older adults, and lower income populations who depend on transportation services to access
employment, health, and other community services.

The State agencies selected for State Coordination Grants have been instructed to begin application procedures upon
receipt of letters from FTA Administrator Jennifer L. Dorn informing them of selection. Applicants have been
advised to submit their electronic grant applications to FTA by February 28, 2005. Grant activities should be
complete, with all funds drawn down from the grant, by February 28, 2006.

The December 6 FEDERAL REGISTER provides full background on the awards, enumerates the
recipient State agencies, and furnishes relevant FTA regional office contact information.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) within the Department of Agriculture has announced its Distance Learning and
Telemedicine (DLT) Program grant application window for funding during fiscal year (FY) 2005 subject to the
availability of funding. RUS has published the announcement on December 3 to give applicants sufficient time to
submit proposals and give that agency maximum time to process applications within the current fiscal year. A Notice
of Funding Availability will be published announcing the funding level for the DLT grant program once an
appropriations bill providing funding for DLT grants has been enacted. Expenses incurred in developing
applications will be at the applicant's risk.

The distance learning and telemedicine grants are specifically designed to provide access to education, training and
health care resources for people in rural America. The grants, which are awarded through competitive process, may
be used to fund telecommunications, computer networks and related advanced technologies.

Eligible applicants include: an incorporated organization or partnership, an Indian tribe or tribal organization, as
defined in 25 U.S.C. 450b (b) and (c), a state or local unit of government, a consortium, as defined in 7 CFR 1703.102,
or other legal entity, including a private corporation organized on a for-profit or not-for profit basis.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has periodically posted responses to "Frequently Asked
Questions" from the Dislocated Worker Service Integration Forums to a special Web page designed to continue the
information exchange and clarify guidance. The agency will be shortly posting this specific response to a question
about TAA participant enrollment to this Web page.Contact: http://www.doleta.gov/FAQ_Dislocated_workers.cfm